I should have known. He's been lethargic for a week or so, and flank-watching for maybe a fortnight, and he started to walk away whenever you brush his nearside, or go to mount. Last week he got down and rolled when I was in his stable, which he NEVER does.
He's not too bad - at least his gut is still working and there's stuff still going in and coming out, but he'll be on box rest for a week with only hay and water, a daily walk around the indoor school and no treats!

Anyone say anything to make me feel better, or should I just hang my head in shame.

More importantly, what can I do to cheer him up??? He can't have anything to eat, he doesn't particularly like toys unless they're edible, or dispense edible stuff, and there's no going out for a play in the sand school, or out for a blast across the field. That's all the things I know he likes completely out of the picture!!

I should have known. He's been lethargic for a week or so, and flank-watching for maybe a fortnight, and he started to walk away whenever you brush his nearside, or go to mount. Last week he got down and rolled when I was in his stable, which he NEVER does.
He's not too bad - at least his gut is still working and there's stuff still going in and coming out, but he'll be on box rest for a week with only hay and water, a daily walk around the indoor school and no treats!

Anyone say anything to make me feel better, or should I just hang my head in shame.

More importantly, what can I do to cheer him up??? He can't have anything to eat, he doesn't particularly like toys unless they're edible, or dispense edible stuff, and there's no going out for a play in the sand school, or out for a blast across the field. That's all the things I know he likes completely out of the picture!!

Walk, walk, walk, and more walking. He needs to be moving. When Rascal coliced the last time I lost 15lbs walking. Days and days of walking. Walk a half hour, rest an hour, walk another half hour, rest an hour, walk for an hour, rest for 2....on and on. It worked though :) he is still with me.

My vets have always told me that if the horse is drinking and calm it's find to stand or even lay down as long as they aren't thrashing around. The walking is really to keep them from rolling. If your horse is pooping and drinking then he should be on the road to recovery soon hopefully. Was there any blockage? What did the vet do?

My vets have always told me that if the horse is drinking and calm it's find to stand or even lay down as long as they aren't thrashing around. The walking is really to keep them from rolling. If your horse is pooping and drinking then he should be on the road to recovery soon hopefully. Was there any blockage? What did the vet do?

Keep the vet involved in the process as much as you can! I had a friend who tried to do it alone and he lost his beloved horse. He slept in the barn with him at nights and is very sad about it to this day.

I'm not overly worried about him in terms of his health. Obviously, colic is worrying, as is waiting for the blood test reults, but his wees and poos have been normal the whole time and he's been eating just the same as always and he hasn't been thrashing about, he's not trying to bite his stomach, he just turned to look at it.

I've lost a bit of confidence in his owners who take care of him as often as I do, so had as much chance to spot the signs and more experience than I But they've spoken to the vet and I'm sure they'll keep in touch with him for as long as they need to. As far as I know, the vet isn't too concerned, it's just the horse is feeling sorry for himself and I want to know how best to take care of him (since horses don't like chicken soup) and cheer him up a bit since I'm normally the one who brings him treats and takes him for sneaky walks to eat grass (all OK'd with the owner who agrees it's not why he's poorly!)

but his wees and poos have been normal the whole time and he's been eating just the same as always and he hasn't been thrashing about, he's not trying to bite his stomach, he just turned to look at it.

As others have mentioned, I am more inclined to think ulcers. Any gastric upset is called "Colic". Very often colic is secondary to something else. Ulcers, dehydration, etc.

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